Liam Payne dies after balcony fall: Police

Liam Payne, the former One Direction star, has died aged 31 in Argentina after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, police say.

In a statement, police said they discovered Payne’s body after an emergency crew responded to an emergency call in the upscale neighbourhood of Palermo on Wednesday.

Payne had risen to global fame as part of the much-loved boyband created on the X Factor TV show in 2010, along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.

Earlier this month, Payne had attended the Argentina concert of his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.

According to police in Buenos Aires, officers at the scene were initially responding to reports “of an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol”.

When they arrived at the hotel, officials were told a loud sound had been heard in an interior courtyard. Soon after, they discovered the body there. A police investigation has been launched.

Emergency medical services director Alberto Crescenti told local media that Payne had suffered “serious injuries” and that an autopsy will be carried out.

Mr Crescenti declined to answer questions about the circumstances of Payne’s fall from the balcony.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was in touch with authorities in Argentina “regarding reports of the death of a British man”. No further details were given.

Payne appeared to post on Snapchat just hours before the incident, saying: “It’s a lovely day here in Argentina.”

Once news of his death broke, fans began gathering outside the Buenos Aires hotel where the death took place, prompting police to cordon off the entrance.

“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad,” he wrote on Instagram.

“I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on the X factor and blowing us away singing Sinatra,” he wrote alongside a picture of the pair.

“He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful and was always humble.”

“Sending love and condolences to his family [and] loved ones,” socialite Paris Hilton wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “RIP my friend.”

Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton in the UK, first tried for stardom when he auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor in 2008 – but judge Simon Cowell told him to “come back in two years”.

He did, impressing the judges more in 2010, and was put together with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage and One Direction were born.

The group had four UK number one albums and four number one singles as well as topping charts around the world, before announcing they were going on a hiatus in 2015.